Paddle Care

Let’s face it, so long as your canoe paddle is anywhere other than hanging on a wall, it’s going to pick up some wear.

Luckily, most scratches, nicks, or scuffs on a paddle are surface level. So take a deep breath; all is well and your paddle will survive!

Here are some tips on how to care for your paddles so they can once again look like the day they arrived to you:

﻿For our gloss paddles:One of the good things about our gloss finish is that we build up a pretty tough protective layer using epoxy resin and hardener. To top it off, we add to the finishing shell by layering multiple coats of spar varnish once the epoxy cures. Nothing is impenetrable, however, so don’t just start slapping jagged rocks with your paddle for fun!

So here’s where you come in…

Lightly sand any areas with observable marks until the blade has a smooth and uniformly dull appearance.

﻿﻿TIP: Got some car wax laying around? Adding a coat of wax on top of your varnish and buffing it off after a few minutes will give your paddle the ultimate shine!

For our natural paddles:As alluded to above, the epoxy absorbs into the wood to protect from within, as well as hardening on the exterior of the wood to protect from the elements. Unfortunately, that shiny shell it produces doesn’t work well for paddlers wanting a more natural appearance for their paddle. Subsequently, our natural finish cannot provide as much protection as our gloss finish. All is STILL well though and we’re not just sending you something that will implode the moment it touches the water!

Our natural paddles are finished using a combination of boiled linseed oil (or tung oil), satin spar varnish, and mineral spirits. Each of these components serves a different purpose. While the linseed oil penetrates the wood and creates the natural oily wood appearance, the varnish adds the needed protective layer to the exterior of the paddle. What about the mineral spirits, you ask? That’s just to help balance the other two and for easier application.

To restore your paddle, do as recommended above: sand, apply, repeat. A safe bet for your homemade oil/varnish mixture is to stick to about 1/3 of each substance. If you’re looking for more protection, add more varnish. If it’s more natural beauty you’re after, add more penetrating oil. Thinner application? Add more mineral spirits.

﻿Final notes:

Small nicks can have a compounding effect over time as they begin to wear down the finish, so reconditioning your paddles now and then is never a bad idea.

If the protective layer is disrupted and the wood has been damaged, you will need to sand a bit more aggressively to smooth out the damaged area before refinishing.

We are happy to help repair or refinish any of our products, so long as your requests are reasonable. Feel free to contact us.

So you didn’t take our advice and you decided to beat your paddle on jagged rocks for fun? You’re on your own!